Beyond Black and White
by Azure C
Summary: With L’s successors dead, the world has fallen into an age where Kira is the absolute power. But as Light Yagami’s days are numbered, he must search for someone worthy of inheriting his rule…
1. Page 1: Successor

**Beyond Black And White**

By Azure C

**Author's Note**: The Death Note manga is written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. This is merely a fictional piece of work written as a tribute to their story, with the pretense that Light won the battle against L and continued to assume the role of Kira. The Death Note rules and anything borrowed from the manga are not my property. So, without further ado… here's the fic.

_ With L's successors dead, the world has fallen into an age where Kira is the absolute power. But as Light Yagami's days are numbered, he must search for someone worthy of inheriting his rule…_

Page 1: Successor

_Death Note_

_How to Use it_

_I_

_The human whose name is written in this note shall die. _

_This note will not take effect unless the writer has the subject's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected. _

_If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the subject's name, it will happen. _

_If the cause of death is not specified, the subject will simply die of a heart attack. _

_After writing the cause of death, the details of the death should be written in the next 400 seconds (6 minutes and 40 seconds)._

* * *

He looked over the balcony… a lone man of at least fifty, sitting on a comfortable ornate chair which gave him a perfect view of the world. A perfect view of _his_ world. One which was envisioned by his desires and motives, then molded to become a near Utopia.

In the eyes of a God, it was truly paradise…

_ Light, don't you get tired of seeing this all the time? _the Shinigami whined. _I mean, things aren't exciting anymore without L and his successors. At least they were able to give you some competition…_

The man called Light ruffled his reddish, plentiful hair a bit, as if annoyed by the remark. He stood a rather tall man for his age, with a medium build, and bore a handsome, yet stern look on his face which complimented his amber eyes. Often, people would mistake him for being younger than he actually was, but he thought little of those remarks.

"Ryuk… this isn't a 'game' as it was thirty years ago," Light said sharply. "We went through a trial to attain this world… and now it is nearly perfected. Few people dare to commit crimes in the presence of Kira, and even the few who dare defy his rule are punished swiftly and soundly."

He paused for a moment, grinning a wide, imposing grin like he would he those days past. "Everything is falling into place…"

The Shinigami called Ryuk stared at him with a mixture of both amusement and incredulousness. He didn't notice it much until now, but the man seemed to have matured a good deal.

It all began that fateful day when they first met, at a time when Light was but a mere high school student.

_ …I was... bored too… _

"_And yet"_, Ryuk thought. "_Here you are right now, looking over the perfect world with a clear sense of what the term 'justice' really means."_

It was truly a rare thing for a Shinigami to be attached to a human. But Ryuk couldn't help but feel that Light was the perfect owner of the Death Note. A merciless, yet insightful God who loomed over the Earth, unhesitant to pass judgment to those who committed sins.

Nevertheless, he stubbornly hung onto his position of being a neutral player in Light's little chess board. After all, it was not for a Shinigami to decide what was right or wrong…

"This world…" Light said, suddenly. "Do you think that it can always remain in a state of peace, Ryuk?"

"Err…" the Shinigami murmured, scratching his head questioningly. "To be honest, I never thought such a thing was possible. But you've almost done it, Light. As for whether or not it can remain this way… well, I'm not too sure. I didn't really think about it until now."

The man shook his head, clearly frustrated by the lack of a helpful response. It had always been this way… at some points; Ryuks indecisiveness would have blown their cover; had it not been for some quick thinking. But what he really found frustrating was the Shinigami's tendency to remain neutral… perhaps even Rem would have made a better partner. "I was just thinking…" Light began, ignoring the previous statement. "That the world could revert back to the way it was, if the God 'Kira' ever vanished."

"So… you're thinking that one must take over the title of 'Kira', once you pass on, Light?" Ryuk deduced.

"Yes… that person would be my worthy successor."

* * *

DING-DONG!

The bell chimed, indicating the end to yet another school day. The boy groaned, packing his books into his bag and heading outside. "Life… it's such a pain," he uttered, mounting a bicycle. "Same old routine… over and over again."

"Oi… Kenjiro!" a voice yelled from the school. He whipped around, not surprised to see a grinning, bespeckled boy along with a slightly plump, glasses wearing boy approaching him. "We were going to walk home together, remember?"

"Perfect…" he muttered under his breath.

Kenjiro Takai was a typical, dark-haired sixteen year old boy. By 'typical', he was average in many senses of the word; appearance, grades, physical ability, and so forth. What did differentiate him from the crowd was his innate tendency to carry a dark, heavy presence with him wherever he went… something that was easily evident by the serious expression glued onto his face. His father had died when he was only four, and his elder brother Keiji was off studying abroad in University, so Kenjiro lived a fairly dull life with his mother in a medium sized house at the edge of town.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," Kenjiro called out dryly to his two friends. He stopped just at the front door, checking to see if there was any mail. He always found it exciting when his brother sent a letter for the U.S.

"Hmm…. now who the hell would send this?" he muttered to himself. A black notebook was shoved into the small mailbox, slightly creased as a result of being forced in.

The title "Death Note" was inscribed onto the front cover…


	2. Page 2: Shinigami

**Beyond Black And White**

By Azure Sea

_With L's successors dead, the world has fallen into an age where Kira is the absolute power. But as Light Yagami's days are numbered, he must search for someone worthy of inheriting his rule…_

Page 2: Shinigami

_The human whose name is written in this note shall die. _

_- Death Note, Rule #1_

* * *

"I'm home," Kenjiro announced, bounding up the stairs. 

His mother barely had any time to react, abandoning her stew pot for a moment. "Oh, hello Kenjiro… how was scho—"

"BAM!"

He had already made it up the stairs, slamming the door behind him. His heart was racing madly with a rupture of thoughts in his mind. _The Death Note… could it be for real?_ he thought. Rummaging through his bag hastily, he withdrew the strange black note, which was now very crinkled. It was though a mysterious aura was surrounding it… calling out to the boy's name.

Instinctively, Kenjiro opened the book to the preface, reading over the notebook's rules once more.

_The human whose name is written in this note shall die. _

A chill traveled down his spine as he read the first rule. How could this be possible? Surely one could not control another's fate simply by writing it down. Then again, he wasn't really sure if he could, or wanted to deny it. Eyes scanning the page again, he read the remainder of the rules.

_This note will not take effect unless the writer has the subject's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected. _

_If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the subject's name, it will happen. _

_If the cause of death is not specified, the subject will simply die of a heart attack. _

_After writing the cause of death, the details of the death should be written in the next 400 seconds (6 minutes and 40 seconds)._

He held his breath for a long while, stopping to absorb everything. This note… how was it possible that it ended up in their mailbox? Perhaps the mailman delivered it to the wrong address… but Kenjiro was certain of one thing. Now that he had it, he would not be giving it back. At least not until he was sure what it was capable of.

"Oi… just write down a freakin' name already!" a voice yelled, frustrated.

Kenjiro turned around slowly, annoyed by the familiarity of the voice. "Toshiro, why don't you mind your own—"

He paused abruptly, noticing the ethereal figure behind him. It was something of a purple troll, bearing several piercings along its ears, face, and body. The only clothes it wore were a black shoulder strap along its chest and a baggy, tattered cloth with various ornaments on it which served as pants.

Even more distinguishing was the creature's head. It had a full, bright mane of hip length orange hair, negating a would-be demonic appearance. Atop its head, it wore a strange stone helmet which was tilted slightly to conceal partly yellow and whitish eyes. The creature's features resembled that of a human, but its nose was abnormally piggish and it had the ears of an elf.

Kenjiro's eyes narrowed, confounded by the demonic presence before him. "What in the hell are you?"

The creature looked slightly taken aback. "What am I? Wait… you're not scared by my otherworldly appearance?"

"I could care less about what you look like," Kenjiro claimed, in his usual, drowsy, sarcastic tone. "Just who do you think you are, and what are you doing in my room?"

The creature took the nearest chair, as if to imply that the explanation would take a long time. "You see," he began, fist in cheek. "I am a Shinigami from another plane, you may call me Girasu. What you have in your hands is my Death Note, which I had dropped some time ago."

The boy tightened his grip on the black note. "So… you've come to reclaim it, have you?" said Kenjiro, as if to challenge the creature.

"Err…. not quite," Girasu replied. He laughed a little, and then went on. "You see, I already have another Death Note. I don't mind if you keep that one, really… it makes little difference to me. But if you do choose to keep it then I must follow you until you die or until you give up ownership of the note."

"…Then why did you drop your death note in the first place, if not intentionally…? You seem not to have a purpose for coming here."

"Ha, well you see… that's the thing. The human world has gotten so boring nowadays thanks to the work of that "Kira" figure and his past subordinates. I just thought I'd spice things up a bit. That, and I also have a score to settle with Kira's Shinigami whose name is Ryuk."

"Wait… you're telling me that bastard Kira is a false God?"

_Kira._

Kenjiro loathed the name of that "God", who was almost undeniably responsible for his father's death from a sudden heart attack. He grew up hating Kira simply for screwing up the life that his family once had, and by screwing up the entire world itself. What right did this 'God' have to change the natural order of the world? He didn't know a thing… he was simply a power hungry fool who didn't really have a place in the world.

Now impressions felt even worse, come the revelation that Kira was but a mere human that had toyed with the Death Note. "Girasu… our purposes our common; we both want vengeance on the God himself. So why don't you help me eliminate this fool called 'Kira'"

The Shinigami paused for a moment.

Then he replied.

"No."...


	3. Page 3: Reason

**Beyond Black And White**

By Azure C

_With L's successors dead, the world has fallen into an age where Kira is the absolute power. But as Light Yagami's days are numbered, he must search for someone worthy of inheriting his rule…_

Page 3: Reason

_"…I can't exactly kill people without him coming to find me…"_

* * *

His bulging yellow eyes drifted aimlessly as he gazed through the window, looking at each and every person like an insect.

Tiny, diminutive insects wandering through life without a purpose.

Simply stumbling by, relying on what was most convenient to carry them along the path. And, just like normal insects, they died by the thousands.

_He_ was their judge; the one who built the path for them to walk on. But inevitably that judge would one day disappear… and would have to be replaced by a new one.

"Light…how exactly do you plan on searching for this successor?" hissed Ryuk. "Just look at how many people there are in the world… you wouldn't know who has the most capable mind for handling the Death Note."

Indeed, that would pose the greatest challenge. Light Yagami had been thinking about this problem extensively… there weren't many choices, since he was running out of pawns fast. First he killed the ever so useless Kiyomi Takada; then afterwards that fool Misa Amane passed away, as a result of cutting her remaining lifespan in half twice. Even the former Japanese police unit that he worked with had retired; the only exception being the idiot Matsuda Tota, who was too old and dumb to be of any real use.

There was only one option. He would have to rely on Teru Mikami once more, the one-time holder of a Death Note, as an aid in choosing his successor. Light considered killing Mikami at times (like when his carelessness led Near to deduce that he himself was a Kira), but felt that he could on some occasions be a useful puppet. And now Teru had yet another purpose for the few years until his inevitable death; to find a worthy successor to the 'Kira' throne.

"Ryuk, we're going to get in contact with Mikami," Light declared. "I've got a idea…"

* * *

A brief silence was held in the room as the Shingami spoke his response.

"No."

Then Kenjiro turned around nonchalantly. "Hmph... I never expected this. A Shinigami is afraid… what kind of Shingami are you? If you would just tell me Kira's real name everything would be over with."

Girasu chortled. "To be honest, it isn't at all a matter of how convenient things could be just by telling you. Sooner or later I've got to settle things once and for all with this Shinigami named Ryuk… but I will not aid you for reasons only I need to know."

"So… you won't tell me who Kira is directly, that's fine then, I'll solve it for myself. It shouldn't be all that hard given the circumstances."

"Oh?" Girasu expressed with interest. "But Kira is a genius… I'm not sure you could stan—" He put his hand over his mouth, realizing that he was divulging far more information than he should have.

But Kenjiro merely shrugged it off. After all, the means he was thinking of for hunting down 'God' weren't exactly analytical. "I don't care about that, Girasu. What I do want to know is how you plan to exact vengeance on Ryuk, if by the chance that I happen to identify Kira."

"Again, this is simply for my own purposes. I will take care of the Shinigami once his human is dead' which is also part of the reason why I needed a partner of my own. You see, I'm not exactly on good terms with the head honcho in the demon plane—so, umm… I can't exactly kill people without him coming to find me. That's why I needed a human to kill Kira."

"So in a way, I'm just a tool for you to get to Ryuk," Kenjiro shook his head disapprovingly. "This Ryuk… how has he wronged you in the past?"

"Boy, you really are full of one-hundred questions, aren't you?" Girasu replied. "Well, if you must know, that trickster Ryuk tricked the head of the Shinigami plane a couple of years back, and now they're pinning the blame on me for stealing one of his Death Notes, dropping it into the human world, and causing all this commotion. I can't go back now right now—because I would probably get punished by the big man himself."

Kenjiro nodded, surprisingly attentive to the story. Now this Shingami'smotives made a lot more sense… he was merely a vigilante of sorts, searching of the true perpetrator of a crime while at the same time attempting to prove his own innocence. _His causes are noble,_ Kenjiro thought. _But they won't become a reality unless I remove Kira out of the picture—permanently._

He lay in bed with the Death Note in arms, thinking about if he had the guts to carry out a certain plan. It was, to him, the most open course of action… but also the one that would involve the most sacrifices along the way. His motive, of course, was to avenge his father… but was it really worth it if he had to resort to the Death Note? Surely his brother Keiji or his mother wouldn't approve if they knew.

Hours passed, as he contemplated this. The night soon came, and Girasu had fallen asleep for the time being. A snot bubble deflated and inflated from his piggish nose as he snored with a fist in his cheek.

_To kill a God… you must lure him out first…_

Kenjiro turned off his lamp considering this, then fell asleep…


End file.
